Fresh Look At Asimov’s ‘The Caves Of Steel’

With the announcement of a Hollywood adaptation of Isaac Asimov’s ‘The Caves of Steel,’ the timing is right for a fresh analysis of the book. This is the first book in Asimov’s Robot Series. It was first published as a novel in 1954 by Doubleday. It is probably the first novel to expertly combine a detective story with the science fiction genre.

The crime to be solved is a murder of a Spacer roboticist which occurs before the novel begins. Julius Enderby — New York City’s Commissioner of Police — assigns detective Elijah Baley to the case. He is paired up with R. Daneel Olivaw, an android that looks exactly like the murdered roboticist.

The setting of the story is complex and detailed, traits shared by other Asimov novels. Earth cities have separated themselves from nature and the outdoors. The population lives in hermetically sealed cities, and agoraphobia is the norm. Fear of germs is also present. Many people wear nose plugs to prevent infection even when the risk is extremely low. Typically, Spacers do not share these irrational fears. They tend to be wealthier than native Earth citizens and frequently use robot labor. Natives don’t trust robot labor, which makes Olivaw’s involvement much more dramatic.

Baley’s relationship with Olivaw is a contrasting one like in the best buddy cop films. Baley is like Mel Gibson’s character in ‘Lethal Weapon,’ but less insane, and Olivaw is similar to Danny Glover’s character: more logical and even-tempered. While Baley begins the story with a large amount of distrust for Olivaw and his robotic ways, as the novel progresses, Baley gains respect for the android and his abilities. Olivaw is not just a logical observer of human behavior. He is an advanced student of human psychology, and admits to Baley that he is fascinated by the human skill of persuasion.

The anti-robot sentiment in the novel is oppressive. Humans fear that robots will take their jobs, and at one point the anti-robot forces chase Baley and Olivaw. They are forced to use desperate measures in an attempt to escape. Extreme job anxiety was part of Asimov’s own life. He was a 9 year-old boy living in New York City when the stock market crashed in October of 1929, and since he was an extremely intelligent child, the ravages of the Great Depression must have been particularly difficult for him to endure.

Josh Evans

Josh was interested in science fiction and fantasy from an early age. He has read classic SF authors such as Isaac Asimov and Robert Heinlein, and modern authors such as Neal Stephenson, Alastair Reynolds and Greg Egan. He is also a movie enthusiast who enjoys many film genres. He has visited NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena to get a glimpse of the Mars Curiosity rover, and is a big fan of space exploration.

Asimov’s robots, with their strict laws of robotics, bring a sort of enforced morality that contrasts with the moral ambiguity of the humans around them. Their vulnerability to paradox meant they needed compassion and guidance. However with so much bigotry in the world, Asimov could never trust society as a whole to take care of them. They always had just one or two human partners and intermediaries.

You can compare Asimov’s robots to those of us with exacting moral codes, those of us who struggle to get along in the social world, and to children. While I always found his science fiction interesting and fun, it’s the moral parable that keeps me coming back. Thanks for reminding me about “The Caves of Steel.” I’ll have to pick it up at my local library soon.

For me, the social focus is broader than moral parables with much of Asimov’s fiction. It’s about ethics, philosophy, sociology and psychology, and he has the ability to combine them all in the same work without appearing too pedantic or disorganized.